Andrew Sheng

Is the Coronavirus racist? Of course not. The Covid-19 and its variants do not discriminate between race, creed or borders. They simply infect everyone indiscriminately, so the only defence is vaccines and social distancing.

Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege? This is a soul-searching question by many who agonise over a lost golden age of democracy, freedom and rule-based world order.

On April 29, the US will celebrate the first 100 days of 46th President Joseph Biden. After four years of chaotic Trump governance, the world is relieved how quickly Biden was able to deliver calm and competent professionalism in tackling the pandemic, economy and setting the tone on foreign affairs.

Late last month, the Biden Administration unveiled a USD 2 trn infrastructure programme that aims to modernise American infrastructure.

"April is the cruellest month”, so said the poet TS Eliot in his 1920s poem, the Wasteland. The April Spring meetings of the IMF/World Bank will be held virtually this year, locked down by the pandemic that is raging into its third wave worldwide.

The pandemic has left us a terrible mess to clear up. What policies will get us out of the huge debt that we have incurred to pay for the health, wealth and job crises? 2020 was a year of terrible devastation, cushioned only by massive government spending.

As vaccines begin to roll out, there is increasing awareness that vaccines are not the silver bullets to kill the pandemic.

Where is Wall Street going in the post-pandemic world? Finance is supposed to serve the real economy (Main Street), but the US and global economies are in the midst of a pandemic and recession, while Wall Street profits are higher than ever.

A week is a long time in politics. Last Wednesday, armed supporters of President Trump stormed the sanctity of the Capitol, the temple of American democracy.

The end of the year is a good time to reflect. The devastating pandemic marked a year few of us would ever forget.

Do more, talk less is the advice given by Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, to current Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, on his war of words with China.

Everything is happening so fast that we feel as if the future is being compressed into the present at frightening speed.

This is a question that is at the heart of the tensions across the Pacific. To Parag Khanna, author of The Future Is Asian, the answer is almost self-evident. However, if you read his book carefully, you will find that he thinks global power will be shared between Asian and Western

The old order is broken. No less than Russian President Putin has declared the Neoliberal order “obsolete”.

It is a cliché to say that we live in a digital age, with many countries upgrading to become Knowledge Economies.

World Environment Day (June 5) was a good time to reflect on the existential threat of climate change.

Two major divorces are in the making in March. The obvious one is Brexit, which officially occurs on March 29. The other is the deadline for the US-China trade negotiations on March 1, when

AS the world goes through messy divorces in Brexit and the US-China trade relationship, there is considerable angst about whether we are moving into a period of disorder.

The year 2018 was not one of living dangerously, as most of us mere mortals want more than ever to live a quiet life. The year has also not been easy for any leader, as Theresa May knows all too well.

The Chinese have a saying that arose from the Long March—crossing the river by feeling the stones. In a situation of grave uncertainty—how deep the water is—you can only cross the river by slowly taking one step at a time, making sure that the next stone is firm enough for you to step on before you take the next step. If you are wrong, you change course and feel for the next stone.